Guangzong Yaoming

Chapter 308: Changes in the Battle Situation
In fact, there has never been a shortage of ambitious officials in every dynasty, but there are too many difficulties in using war strategically to ensure the country's short-term and long-term interests.

Of course, the only news sent back from the other side of the border wall was that the army led by the confirmed leader of the Tatar army had appeared outside Gubeikou, and another group of enemy troops had arrived outside Xifengkou.

But if you don’t know about military affairs, then you don’t know about military affairs, and you shouldn’t say too much.

The judgment of the Privy Council was a good sign, but some people only saw the two armies of the Northern Tartars approaching Jizhou.

Zhu Changluo pondered: "As discussed before, it is good to keep a weak Khan's court. But today, it seems that the Ming Dynasty really needs a very meaningful victory."

Tian Le said, "I don't know which group is outside Xifengkou, but they are still exploring. The Tartars in the Liaozuo area are too busy to take care of themselves, and the Khan can't control them. The Khan doesn't even help Khalkha, Khorchin and Kharchin, but wants to attack Jizhou with the current strength of one group and some of the frightened Kharchin troops. I think either the Khan's chieftain is ambitious but incompetent, or someone has ulterior motives."

So he said it was a good sign, because the situation in the north had been studied and assessed countless times within the Privy Council.

When Altan Khan rose to power in the past, the Khanate became increasingly weak.

Now that Lin Danhan is in that position, it is no longer the time for him to command the support of all. Even if all the people of Chahar come out in full force, what will happen? The Ming Dynasty is well prepared this time.

In the view of Zhu Changluo and Tian Le, if the Khanate wanted to confront the Ming Dynasty, it would have to weigh its own strength. In this situation, if Lindan Batur was more pragmatic, he should have achieved results with the Ming Dynasty tacitly.

Help the various tribes to resist for a while, and after they are defeated, subdue the devastated Inner Khalkha, Kharchin and Horchin. At least after reorganization, it will be better than having a bare Chahar commander without any troops now.

But he was just planning to hit the Ming Dynasty's border wall directly.

Of course, just as some ministers of the Ming Dynasty habitually wanted to negotiate peace, the Khan's court might also be path-dependent in thinking that the Ming Dynasty would be timid and would be mobilized by his action to shrink its military forces and defend.

If this is true, then it would not only resolve the crisis of various tribes and establish prestige, but also try to get some benefits from the Ming Dynasty.

He had a beautiful thought.

Zhu Changluo continued to ponder: "Even if they didn't know that I had reorganized the Beijing Camp and established the Privy Council before, the Tianshu Camp has captured so many Doyan chieftains. The Khan's court shouldn't be so arrogant, right? You said that someone has ulterior motives, but those who came this time should be the Chahar people. If the Khan's lord is defeated here, what good will it do him? The succession of the Khan's lord still has its own rules."

"It's hard to say." Tian Le said truthfully, "Now we all think that since the enemy chieftains have penetrated deep into the border wall, Zhang Yonghou can take Kaiping and send some people to the Khan's lair, burning the wasteland and killing people, so as to support the war. There are many river valleys in Yanshan, and it is not easy to block them. If Zhang Yonghou goes to block them, it will be difficult to transport military supplies and grass, and we must also be careful of trapping the enemy."

"What about the north of Jizhen?"

"General Li temporarily controls Jizhou, and General You leads the Jizhou troops to defend the border wall. I think it will not be difficult. This time, Xuanda and Liaodong are the main targets, and more new cannons are given to the Jizhen border wall. They are either pretending to attack Gubeikou and Xifengkou just to force the Ming army to withdraw, or they are betting that the Ming wants to surround them in Yanshan and rely on the terrain to ambush and kill the government troops. For the chieftain, as long as he wins, it will prove that he is not a mediocre leader."

Zhu Changluo thought thoughtfully: "Let them waste their time in Yanshan?"

"Yes, we have to retreat." Tian Le nodded. "Kaiping is the key point. Marquis Zhangyong uses it as a base, so he can rest and wait for the enemy to tire themselves out. When the Tartars return north, it will be their turn to worry about ambushes. The only way back north is through those mountain passes. I think it would be better to stabilize the Tartars this time and send envoys to discuss. They should be happy to see the Khan's vitality seriously damaged. As long as they don't move, at least the rear army governor's office can draw some troops to stabilize the line from Dushibao to Kaiping, and go to Kaiping to reinforce and set up an ambush."

“That’s quite a big change…”

Zhu Changluo had no intention of attacking the Khan's court this time. In the previous deduction, Lindan Batur was still young after all, so this was not the best option. If the Khan's court only made a gesture of support at the lowest cost, then the right wing of the Tartars entrenched in Hetao and Zhangbei would not give up the opportunity to pay tribute to the Ming Dynasty and turn against the Ming Dynasty.

In recent years, the Tatars took advantage of the Ningxia campaign to rebel against Haobai, who surrendered to the Ming Dynasty. Bu Shitu of the Tumed tribe and Zhuang Tulai of the Ordos tribe also took the opportunity to lead 30,000 to 40,000 cavalry to invade the Ming Dynasty.

At that time, Li Rusong and Ma Gui chased them to the Helan Mountains.

However, Tian Le and Li Wen cut off one of their arms in the battle of Xiaosongshan and Xiaosongshan, and now the Taolu are actually strong on the outside but weak on the inside.

Especially last year, Chelike, the Shunyi King of Tumed, died, and Bu Shitu, who was chased by Li Rusong and Ma Gui, was competing with his tribesmen for the position of Shunyi King.

Otherwise, why is this year a good time?

After hearing what Tian Le said, Zhu Changluo asked, "Then Altan's princess... won't she marry someone else this time?"

Tian Le laughed, "The rules of the bandits are chaotic. If we want to stabilize the bandits, we have to start with this third lady. She has always valued tribute trade, and now the seal of the trade is probably in his hands. But she has flesh and blood. If the Ming Dynasty has any ideas about who she will marry, she still has to think twice."

The third lady the two men were talking about was also a legend.

She was actually of Oirat origin. When Altan Khan traveled across the Great Wall, he married her as his princess in his later years when she was nine years old. This was because Altan Khan was on a western expedition at that time and wanted to subdue the remnants of the Oirat who were driven to the west by the Tatars.

In the past, when Altan Khan broke through Gubeikou and plundered the suburbs of Beijing, he had actually already demanded to pay tribute to the Ming Dynasty, but was rejected.

Later, Altan was conferred the title of Shunyi King in the fifth year of Longqing. Zhu Changluo had read the records before that "the conferment was actually the idea of ​​Sanniangzi" and "the support of the barbarians was half due to Sanniangzi". In the Ming Dynasty, she was also conferred the title of "Lady Zhongshun".

She was a person who thought it was better to settle down. The current Guihua City can be said to have been built under her leadership. After all, when the construction of Guihua City began in the sixth year of Longqing, Altan was already ill.

In the ninth year of the Wanli reign, Altan died, and the Ming Dynasty played a trick. Since she was the Shunyi King appointed by the Ming Dynasty, the envoys sent to pay tribute to her showed special respect to the third lady, emphasizing that anyone going to the inland for trade must carry a document issued by the third lady before they were allowed to pass. Therefore, the Ming Dynasty deliberately identified her as the core figure of the Tumed.

Although Altan's eldest son should have inherited the title of King of Shunyi, from the fifth year of Longqing to the ninth year of Wanli, the benefits brought by the trade had penetrated into the Tumed tribes. Sanniangzi held the seal of the trade, so the King of Shunyi must also have Sanniangzi's support.

The Mongols had the custom of levirate marriage. In the opinion of Altan's eldest son, the best way was to marry Sanniangzi.

At that time, Sanniang was only 32 years old and she despised Altan's eldest son, not to mention that she and Altan also had a son.

But Daming appeared again, and Zheng Luo, the then governor of Xuanda, advised Sanniangzi: Madam, you can return to the king and retain his favor, otherwise you will be deprived of a woman's ears.

Therefore, through these operations, the Ming Dynasty divided the Tumed tribe into a very special power structure: the power to command the various tribes and the power to trade with the Ming Dynasty were divided between the lord and the lord's wife.

Sanniangzi married Altan, his son, and his grandson.

Now it is the turn of Altan's fifth-generation grandson.

Because Chelike's son died early, Bu Shitu is his grandson.

"When I went to pay my respects last year, what did you say about this?"

"They are still arguing, but it's mainly between Sanniang's grandson and Chelike's grandson." Tian Le said, "Although Sanniang doesn't need to marry her grandson again, she will help him, but this rule cannot be broken. Bu Shitu was defeated by Daming first, and now he has Daming's help, so he is a better candidate."

"Then let's give it a try." Zhu Changluo sighed, "Whether it succeeds or not, there is no need to be overly cautious about trapping the enemy. The layout of reinforcements and interception can be arranged at the same time."

Over the past thirty years, the Ming Dynasty and the right wing of the Yuan Dynasty in the Hetao area have formed this delicate relationship. Although there are still frictions, the bond of interest in the mutual trade has never been broken, and the Changming has strengthened its penetration in recent years.

The Ming Dynasty knew more about the strengths and weaknesses of Tumed and Ordos than the Khanate.

This is also one of the reasons why this operation was planned in this way.

Taolu had long lost the strength it had during the time of Altan Khan, and later it seemed as if it was shattered by just one touch from Lindan Batur.

Liu Jing came to the rear army governor's office with the intention of intimidating the enemy. To be honest, now that he has moved forward to the direction of Kaiping, the enemy may also be very nervous.

After all, he could also turn west.

At this time, the Ming Dynasty made demands to reassure them so that the Tumed people would not be so hot-blooded as to oppose the Khan's will during the power transition.

The emperor and his minister discussed some general directions, and Zhu Changluo felt much better.

But then Wang An was called over.

"Give the order, keep an eye on those who need to be watched." There was a cold light in his eyes, "I can intimidate the capital, but I am not sure about Jiangnan. This battle will not be so quick, who will take the opportunity to stir up trouble and fan the flames? Be prepared in advance."

"This slave takes the order."

This battle will certainly not be so quick, especially now that it has been discovered that Lindan Batur is leading a large army deep into the enemy's territory.

A part of the force was divided into two parts, and it seemed that some people among them had different ideas.

The situation needs to be made clearer.

But Zhu Changluo knew that the strategic goal originally set for this battle was not difficult to achieve. What was more difficult was the subsequent struggle to carve out a new actual control line.

After all, there is no Great Wall further north, and the castles from the past have all been destroyed.

Now that the Ming Dynasty needs a victory with clearer symbolic significance in order to make some people tougher, it has to make changes according to the changing situation.

If you want to catch bigger fish, of course you have to spend more time casting a bigger net.

He thought about the situation reported from Liaodong, pondered for a while, and then called someone over.

"It's one thing that you don't want to kill Nurhaci, but your brother is now the leader of the Yehe tribe. Let me ask you, if the Ming Dynasty destroys the Khanate, do you want your brother to be able to live in Chahar and be crowned king by the Ming Dynasty?"

Yehenara Donggo's expression froze.

(End of this chapter)